Out With A Bang
by Brielle.Page
Summary: After the S.H.I.E.L.D. base is attacked, Daisy is left injured and Jemma unaccounted for. Can the agents find Jemma and save Daisy before it's too late for both of them?
1. Explosions

**I do not own Agents of Shield. All right belong to Marvel and other rightful owners.**

 **This is my third fanfic for AOS because I really love this show, and writing it comes easily to me. Comment anything you like or want to see! -Brielle**

What was that smell? It was sharp and sour. Also, what noise was that? Was that an alarm going off? Daisy's head was pounding and her ears were ringing. The ground was hard and cold, but her skin was hot and sweaty. What the hell happened? Daisy opened her eyes, but she couldn't see; smoke was everywhere. She whipped her head around, searching for another figure.

"Jemma…" she whispered, her throat scratchy from inhaling gas fumes and smoke. "Jemma."

Daisy pushed herself up, forcing her hands into the cement when a wave of dizziness hit her. She steadied herself, and then, clenching her fists, stood. A searing pain in her ribs stopped her from inhaling. She wrapped an arm protectively around her torso and grimaced. She stumbled in a circle, trying to see through the haze. There were several surviving fires throughout the lab, but luckily, it was still pretty intact. The explosion. What the hell had caused it? Daisy grabbed her head, wincing in pain.

"Think, Daisy," she said to herself. She looked around again, searching for Jemma. "Jemma!" she called, making her way through glass and other debris in the lab. The glass windows were shattered, tables were knocked over, stacks of papers were on fire, and the computers were broken, much like most of the laboratory equipment. "Jemma!"

 _"_ _Move, Jemma!" Daisy shouted, tackling Jemma out of the way of an explosive. It went off, and a vacuum engulfed Daisy, the rest of the world moving in silent slow motion. She hit the concrete floor, another explosion, and then she lost sight of Jemma._

Daisy felt her ear canals with the tips of her fingers, and she felt a crustiness down the side of her jaw. No wonder her ears were ringing. She must have busted eardrums. Glass crunched under the soles of her boots, and she slipped past several overturned metal tables.

"Jemma! Jemma, can you hear me?" Daisy called frantically. Where was she?

She stumbled across uneven ground, through sparks and smoke, searching for Jemma, but she wasn't there. Daisy inhaled, running her hands through her dusty hair, and she gasped. A deep, burning pain made her breath hitch. She looked down and saw that she was bleeding. She clenched her teeth at the aching in her torso. There was a dark blood stain above her belt on her stomach. Daisy hadn't even realized she was bleeding; the pain in her possibly broken ribs was overwhelming.

"I'm fine," Daisy insisted, even though every muscle movement stung. "You're fine, Daisy," she whispered to herself.

She put a finger to her ear and tried contacting anyone. "May? Yo-yo? Fitz—someone please answer," but her comm wasn't working. "If communications are down, then Coulson and Mack have no way of contacting us," Daisy spoke aloud. "And we have no way of telling them what happened."

She glanced down, and closed her eyes, biting her lip when she saw that her gray crewneck was soaked through with blood. She hissed again, tripping over her own feet. She righted herself, but the gas smell wasn't helping her dizziness. Daisy made her way out of the lab and into the main hall. She placed a hand against the brick wall, sliding it unsteadily against the rough surface as she walked, hunched over and wheezing.

"I think I need medical," Daisy gasped, but she was sinking farther into the wall. Eventually, she sank into her arm and melted her back against the wall, her legs the only thing keeping her up. She'd lost a lot of blood. "Damn it." Daisy's eyes were closed, and she kept an arm wrapped tightly around her torso.

Daisy, eyes still closed, tried her comms once more. "May…" she gasped weakly. "Can anyone…read me?"

"Daisy," she heard.

"Can you hear me?"

A set of footsteps rushed up to her. The vibrations sent shock waves up her legs into her abdomen and she winced.

"Daisy, it's me. Open your eyes."

She obeyed. May was standing in front of her, her hands on both arms to keep her from falling.

"May," Daisy sighed and then made another face.

"What happened?" May asked. She had a few small cuts on her face, but other than that, she was no worse for wear.

"Jemma," Daisy inhaled slowly. "I can't find her. She's…gone."

"We'll find her, Daisy," May stared into her eyes, her fierceness like a wildfire. "How are you?"

Daisy chuckled dryly. "I could be better." She peeled her arm away, and she felt all the blood, slick on her arm, oozing under her shirt.

"Oh my God," May's eyes widened. "We need to stop the bleeding."

"I don't know when it happened," Daisy breathed. "I woke up after the explosion and it was there."

"Let me take a look," May said.

"No, May," Daisy shook her head. "We have to find everyone else."

"They're all accounted for except Jemma," May said. "Fitz is trying to get communications back up and running."

"We need…to find…Jemma," Daisy tilted her head back and rested it against the wall.

"No, we need to take care of this," May said, squeezing Daisy's biceps. "Alright? Listen to me, Daisy."

Daisy couldn't focus. Her vision went blurry and she faintly felt May's strong figure sliding under hers. "Jemma…" Daisy inhaled softly, and then her body went slack against May's.

"Daisy!" she cried, trying to catch her, but Daisy dropped to the floor in a heap, her hands covered in her blood. "No, Daisy!"


	2. Unfortunate Turn of Events

Jemma woke groggily, her head pounding and her hearing seeming to be muffled.

"Oh, God," she groaned, clenching her eyes tighter. She moved her neck, stretching it out, and that was when she noticed she couldn't move her arms. She looked down and saw her hands strapped to the arms of a chair. "Oh no," she whispered. "This is not good."

She jerked her arms, hoping to loosen the bindings, but they were well made and strong. She put her legs into it, and she cried out—both in surprise and pain. A gash, about four inches long, was in the side of her thigh. It had bled quite a bit, but from what she could see, was bleeding no longer. "Well, that's a relief," she sighed.

Now, she had to assess the situation. Where was she? She was in an empty room, it was fairly dark, and there was only a single door in front of her. There were no windows, no lights, only a small bit of light that came in from the glass window in the door. She couldn't see out of it though because she was too far down from where she sat on the chair. Where was she? And what happened? She tried to recall the last thing she remembered.

 _"_ _Hey, Jemma," Daisy said, handing her the tablet. "I have the results from the most recent Inhuman test."_

 _"_ _Oh, thanks, Daisy," Jemma smiled and checked the readings. "These are quite promising."_

 _"_ _Yeah," Daisy nodded. "Aiden is doing really well with his training."_

 _"_ _Has he grown accustomed to the Inhuman containment yet?" Jemma asked, placing the tablet down on the laboratory table._

 _"_ _He's still adjusting," Daisy said. "He asked about you."_

 _"_ _Me?" Jemma asked, pointing at herself._

 _"_ _Yeah. He asked if you were coming down to do another blood test," Daisy shrugged._

 _"_ _Well, I wasn't going to," Jemma said. "I don't really think it's necessary."_

 _"_ _That's what I said," Daisy sighed. "I told him since he was doing well controlling his powers, we didn't need any more blood samples. He seemed weirdly upset by that."_

 _Now it was Jemma's turn to shrug. "I wouldn't think about it."_

 _Daisy jumped up and sat on one of the tables and started swinging her feet over the edge. "Did Coulson say when they'd be back?"_

 _"_ _No," Jemma frowned. "I haven't talked to either of them; only Fitz has had contact with them."_

 _"_ _I still think I should have gone with them," Daisy huffed._

 _"_ _You were needed here to help train Aiden," Jemma said. "Being here is just as important as being out there," Jemma nodded to the window._

 _"_ _Yeah but it's not as much fun though," Daisy exhaled._

 _"_ _Well—"_

 _Jemma stopped when both women heard a sharp clinking sound, followed by a small metal device rolling across the lab floor._

 _"_ _Move, Jemma!" Daisy leapt off the table and tackled Jemma to the side, and an instant later, an explosion rocked the base. Then, blackness._

An explosion! Was Daisy alright? Was everyone else safe? Jemma struggled against her shackles again, trying to get out, but again they only caused her pain.

"This isn't working," Jemma huffed. "Now, come on, Jemma. You are a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. How can you get out of here?"

She looked around her for any loose piece of metal, plastic, anything she could use to help her, but the floor was clean. She craned her neck to see the feet of the chair, and her heart swelled s little when she saw that they weren't bolted to the floor. Maybe she could rock the chair and tip it over. Taking a deep breath, Jemma started shoving her weight to her left side repeatedly. As she gained momentum, the chair started to tilt. One more push and the chair came crashing down, and unfortunately, onto Jemma's shoulder.

"Aah!" she cried out, scrunching up her face in pain as her shoulder jammed in on itself.

Now she was on her side, her shoulder in pain, and no closer to getting out. She brought her feet up, tucking them under her, and tried to push against the seat of the chair. She was hoping the binding would snap, but it only caused searing pain to travel through her shoulder. She whimpered, releasing her legs.

As she did, she heard movement from outside the door. She froze and her heart started to pound. A lock clicked and the door swung open. Jemma narrowed her eyes in disbelief.

"Aiden?" she asked. "Aiden! Thank God! Please, help me out."

Aiden smiled, walking over and crouched next to Jemma. He pulled her up off the floor so she was seated but right side up. "Of course, Jemma—oh, wait." He put a hand on the straps keeping her down, but then stopped. "I would, but you see, I'd really like you to stay here."

"What?" Jemma's shoulders sagged slightly. "What do you mean?"

"You know, for being so smart and so damn beautiful, you're really not that observant," Aiden said.

"You—" Jemma finally put the pieces together. "You're the one who set off the bomb."

"Bingo," Aiden snapped.

"Why?"

"Because that was the only way I could get closer to you."

"Why on earth would you want to get closer to me?" Jemma asked.

"Because I can see the kind of woman you are, Dr. Simmons," Aiden said, and Jemma had to stop herself from shivering as he said her name. "And a woman of your talents and beauty deserves someone like me."

"Oh, Aiden," Jemma sighed. "I—I'm sorry you feel this way, but I'm married."

Aiden's eyes flared, but his expression remained neutral. "Married? To whom?"

"I married Fitz last year," Jemma said. "I—I thought you knew."

Aiden didn't answer. He rubbed his chin and then folded his arms. He remained silent for several minutes, but he finally spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that, Jemma because I'm afraid Fitz is going to have to miss his wife."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I have you now, and you're not leaving," Aiden growled. "You don't deserve Fitz. He's only a human. Why have him when you could have me?"

"Because I _love_ , Fitz," Jemma narrowed her eyes. "And I don't love you, Aiden. I don't even know you."

Aiden walked over and took Jemma's chin in his fingers. "You will soon enough," he whispered. Then he turned and walked out, but before he slammed the door shut, Jemma caught the image on the wall outside: the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle.


	3. Adrenaline

**I'm very sorry in advance for some of the Spanish parts. I am not bilingual, so the only reference I have is Google Translate. If any of it is wrong, please let me know, but I wanted to use some Spanish to stay true to Yo-yo's character.**

"Damn it," May whispered. She knelt beside Daisy, her hand over the vein in her neck. Her pulse was still strong, so that was a good sign. She didn't know how she would be able to get Daisy to the medical bay, and she couldn't just leave her here with fires still alive. May looked down at Daisy, her hair sticking to the sides of her face, sweat like glue. She could at least try and stop the bleeding. She peeled away Daisy's shirt from the wound site, and she inhaled. "Oh, God."

There was a chunk of metal stuck in Daisy's abdomen. May tried to see how big it was, but there was a lot of blood pooled around the wound site. She couldn't see anything properly, and Daisy was still bleeding. Wait. May looked closer. The piece of metal was a bullet. Daisy had been shot. How? Someone had shot Daisy. May whipped her head up at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She couldn't see who was coming. Two silhouettes appeared around the corner, and they came running towards her.

"May?"

"Fitz?" May exhaled in relief.

Fitz and Yo-yo stopped in front of her, looking a little worse for wear, but not terribly battered. "What happened?"

"Daisy…" Yo-yo gasped, looking behind May's legs. "Oh _chica_ …"

"I'm not sure," May said. "I found Daisy here. She's been shot."

"We've got to get her to the medical bay," Fitz said. "Where's Jemma? Wasn't she with Daisy?"

"When Daisy woke up, Jemma was gone," May said. "We don't know where she is."

Fitz ran a hand over his head, placed a hand on his hip, and then started pacing. "We have to find her," he said, his accent thickening in distress.

"We will," Yo-yo said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

. "Help me, Yo-yo," May nodded to Daisy's immobile body on the floor. "Fitz, you go see if you can get communications up and running. And get us some power."

"On it," Fitz nodded.

The two women grabbed Daisy's arms and picked her up. Daisy's head bobbed up and down, her straggly hair falling over her face. Through the dense smoke, sparking lights, and steaming vents, the small group found their way to the medical bay.

May found a table that was still upright and carefully put Daisy's upper body down onto the table and then pulled her legs up after.

May turned and started ravaging through the destroyed medical bay. Yo-yo, on the other hand, found a suture kit and unpacked it to get to work. May returned with the necessary items, and Yo-yo used the peroxide to clean the wound. Daisy inhaled involuntarily, moaning on the table. After Yo-yo had cleaned her wound, May was able to see how much damage had been done.

"Okay," May said. "The bullet is still lodged in her torso, so we have to get that out."

" _Oh Dios mio_ ," Yo-yo sighed. "How the hell did this happened?"

"Someone set off the explosives in the base," May said. "Jemma is missing, and this happened when almost all of our people are out on a mission. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"You think some _gringo_ planted the bombs and what, kidnapped Jemma?" Yo-yo asked, slapping a hand against her thigh.

"I think that the fact our best scientist is missing and Daisy was shot would be an awfully big coincidence." May faced Yo-yo before she took forceps and glanced over at Daisy. Her face was pale, sweaty, and her closed eyes looked purple in the dim light. May drew her eyes back to her wound and picked up the syringe of anesthetic. As steadily as she could, May injected the anesthetic and then picked up the forceps again. She took a hold of the end of the bullet and gently pulled it out of Daisy's flesh, along with a small ooze of dark blood with it.

Yo-yo peered into the suture kit and closed her eyes. "There's nothing to sew the wound with," she said.

May sighed. "I guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

"What does that mean?" Yo-yo asked. "May, _Qué demonios significa eso_?"

"It means that I'll need you to hold Daisy down," May frowned. She found a metal rod stuck in flaming debris, grabbed it, and looked at Yo-yo. "This will have to do."

"I've got her," Yo-yo said, holding Daisy's arms down at her sides. " _Lo siento_ , Daisy."

May came over with the red-hot metal, placed her hand on Daisy's wound, pinched the ends together, and then jabbed the rod against her skin. The wet and vulnerable skin sizzled upon impact, and Daisy jerked in her unconscious state. She tried to pull away, but Yo-yo kept her down. At last, the seared skin stopped fizzing, and May nodded at Yo-yo who slowly released Daisy. Daisy lay still, breathing heavily, but her wound was shut and no longer bleeding.

"We'll have to keep an eye on it," May sighed, wiping sweat from her brow. "You weren't here the last time Daisy kept a wound to herself. It got infected and," May huffed. "Well, lets just say it was a whole ordeal and Daisy ended up paying for her painful decision three times over."

"Oh," Yo-yo's eyes were wide.

"I'll wrap this," May said. "You go find Fitz and see if—"

Before May could finish, the lights in the medical bay flickered on. They were pale lights, meaning Fitz had managed to get the emergency lights running.

"Fitz," Yo-yo tried her comm. "Can you hear me?"

There was a brief silence and then Fitz's voice came through the static. "Yeah, Yo-yo, I can hear you. Communications are up and running. I'm trying to reach Coulson and Mack now." There was a pause followed by a sigh. "Jemma's not answering."

"We'll find her, Fitz," May said sternly. "We are not going to let anything happen to her. You've lost her once before. It's not going to happen again."

"You don't know that," Fitz said.

"Listen to me," May almost growled. "We all love Jemma. I will kick someone's ass before they can have Jemma. In fact, I'll quite enjoy kicking someone's ass to get her back."

Fitz chuckled dryly. "Yeah. Yeah, I know you would."

"Can you track her?"

"No," Fitz said. "Whoever took her disabled the tracker in her comm. I can't trace her phone either."

"Keep working on it. Yo-yo and I will stay with Daisy and then we'll hunt for Jemma," May said.

May turned to Yo-yo. "Let's get her up," she nodded to Daisy.

"How?"

May pulled out a syringe, smirking. "Adrenaline."


	4. Only A Pawn

"Aiden!" Jemma called, wincing at the pain in her shoulder from falling on the floor. "Aiden! Please, let me go!" She had been pulling at the zip ties that held her to the chair for hours, and her wrists were rubbed raw. She was tired, dehydrated, hungry, and aching, but still she didn't quit. She wouldn't stop as long as she could. Minutes or possibly hours passed after that before Aiden appeared, opening the door. Jemma started to yell, but he pulled out a gun and aimed it at her head.

"One syllable and I'll shoot you right between the eyes," he warned. Jemma closed her mouth and shrank back into the chair. "That's a good girl," Aiden smirked. He came over with a small try, bent down in front of Jemma, and placed it on the floor next to him. "You've got a nasty cut," he said, gesturing to the gash on Jemma's thigh.

"It's nothing," Jemma said, and she was almost telling the truth because it didn't really bother her anymore, but that's because she had pushed the pain out of her mind.

"It looks bad," Aiden said, his demeanor softening. "Let me see what I can do," he said, reaching for the bottle of alcohol and bandages.

"You don't need those," Jemma said. "You could just heal me yourself."

"Oh, I know," he sighed. "But that means you would get to be pain-free, and I'd rather you sit here with that pain in the back of your mind. See how long you last." Jemma glared at him, rolling her eyes. "No," Aiden said, shaking a finger at Jemma's face. "No, you don't get to do that."

"Do what?" Jemma asked, tilting her head.

"You don't get to act like I'm a traitor or something," he said. "I was never a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. I was never on the team, so don't even look at me like this is my fault."

"Aiden, be reasonable," Jemma huffed. "This is quite literally the definition of something being your fault."

"Shut up," he growled, tearing the hole in Jemma's jeans to make it larger.

"Just let me go, Aiden, and I can talk to Coulson," she sighed, breathing harder. "He'll see what he can do to let you go now that you can control your powers fairly well."

"That's never going to happen," Aiden chuckled. "I'm free for the moment and I'm going to savor it."

"Aiden—"

"Stop talking."

"Please, Aiden—"

"I said shut up!" Aiden snarled, shoving the rag soaked with hydrogen peroxide into Jemma's wound, and she inhaled, hissing loudly at the stinging. "Don't make me put my hands on you."

Jemma bit her lip, her jaw clenching. "You bloody bastard," she whispered, blinking tears back.

"Watch it," he shoved a finger in her face. "I don't want to get rough."

"Why not?" she asked. "You've already kidnapped me, wounded me, and now you're planning on doing what? Using me as leverage?"

"What makes you think this has anything to do with you?"

"Well," Jemma said, looking around the small room. "Judging by the fact that it's only you and me in here, I'd estimate an accurate hypothesis is that you're going to use me in whatever sadistic plan you have in your head."

"I love you Jemma Simmons," Aiden said, even though his face said otherwise. "But you're only a pawn in this game of chess. There's someone I want, and someone I intend to get."

"Who?"

Aiden laughed. "I'm not stupid, Jemma," he said.

"Fine. I'll guess," Jemma shrugged. "May." Aiden only rolled his eyes. "Coulson. Mack. Fitz. Yo-yo. Daisy."

"Enough!" Aiden snapped, throwing the try of medical supplies across the room. "Not another word _Agent Simmons_."

"Oh, I do believe I've struck a nerve," Jemma squinted, tilting her head.

"Shut up!" Aiden shouted, punching Jemma across the face.

She felt the pain from the explosion and what it did to her body multiply tenfold. She screamed, her back arched, her head thrown back, and her body rigid. "Aiden!" she screamed, thrashing in the chair. "Aiden, stop! Stop! Please!"

Finally, Aiden touched his hand to her knee and the pain stopped. Jemma slumped forward, her lungs working rapidly. She was sweating, and the gash in her thigh that had been cleaned was dripping blood once again.

"Next time," Aiden exhaled in her ear, "it'll be a lot worse." With that, he got up and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Jemma was alone again, but the radiating pain in her body caused her to not care. "Oh, Daisy," she cried softly. "I'm so sorry. I hope you're alright."


	5. Guns Blazing

"Jemma!" Daisy inhaled violently, the adrenaline shooting through her system. She shot up, whipping her head around, her eyes wide. She clutched her chest with a trembling hand as it rose and fell.

"Daisy, it's just us," May put a hand on her shoulder.

"Did you find Jemma?" she breathed.

May hesitated. "Uh…no."

"Then what are you doing?" Daisy asked, throwing her legs over the side of the table.

"Saving _your_ life, _chica_ ," Yo-yo said, pointing at her.

"I would have been fine!" Daisy said.

"No, you would have bled out if we hadn't gotten to you," May said, furrowing her brow. "You were shot, Daisy."

Daisy stopped moving for a second. "I was what?"

"Someone shot you," May repeated.

"But…there was an explosion," she said slowly, trying to wrap her head around the information.

"Yes," May said. "An explosion goes off in the base, you wake up to find out you've been shot, Jemma is missing, the power and all communications went out, and half of our team isn't here. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"Sounds like the explosion was part of a plan," Daisy grunted, sitting up straight.

"But who's?" May wondered aloud. "And why?" Daisy inhaled before dropping to her feet, hunched over slightly to keep the pain at a minimum. "What are you doing, Daisy?"

"Going to search the base."

"Hold on a minute," May said. "We need to do this together." Daisy sighed, but since she was in a lot of pain she didn't argue.

"Alright, alright," she huffed, allowing May to wrap her arm over her neck. They walked out of the medical by and Daisy lifted her head. "Well, the power's back on. That's a relief. Where's Fitz?"

"He's seeing if he can contact Coulson and Mack," May said.

"I'll go see," Yo-yo nodded, speeding off, and then not a moment later, was back. "He's in the control room."

"Let's go," May said.

"No, we have to find Jemma!" Daisy raised her voice, tugging at May's hand which was holding her up.

"Daisy, we don't know anything about Jemma," she sighed. "We don't know that she's not alright."

"Exactly!" Daisy shouted, pulling away from May, hunching over and stumbling into the wall. "She could be _dying_ while you're here worried about _communications_!"

"Daisy…"

"I'm going to search the base for Jemma," Daisy breathed, leaning heavily on the wall. "You go to Fitz. I'll let you know if I find anything since communications are back up."

"You can barely stand on your own," May shot Daisy a look as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I have the wall," Daisy argued. Granted, it was a poor argument, but she wouldn't give in so easily.

May and Daisy stared off, neither blinking for an eternity.

"Fine!" May huffed, throwing her hands in the air, finally breaking. "The moment you find anything, or the moment you don't, you tell us, got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Daisy saluted sarcastically.

"Let's go, Yo-yo," May said, staring at Daisy until she had to turn to go to the control room. Daisy watched them until they rounded a corner so she knew they'd let her alone. She inhaled carefully, her abdomen burning painfully, but she had a job to do. She had to find Jemma, or at lest a trail that would let her know where she had gone. Keeping one hand on the wall and the other on her torso, she made her way down towards the Inhuman center, interrogation rooms, and the doors to the Zephyr. It was still pretty dim down here, smoke still hanging in the air. There were small chunks of debris in some hallways, but for the most part, the worst explosions seemed to have been limited to the laboratory.

"May's right," Daisy said to herself. "There's no way these explosions were an accident."

There was too much evidence of controlled explosion impacts for this to be random gaskets or tanks accidentally setting off explosions in the entire base. Daisy stepped on a piece of concrete unevenly, causing her boot to turn, which shot pain up her leg and into her wound.

"Aghh…" she groaned, bending down, scrunching her eyes shut. After the wave of pain passed, she lifted her hand to push herself off the ground when her eye caught something. She squinted, unsure if she was seeing things correctly. She scurried forward, snatching up the object. Jemma's phone! She turned it on, thankful that Fitz had given her a battery with insanely long life. There were 15 missed calls and over 20 texts from Fitz. They were all frantic, and suddenly, Daisy felt bad for being so selfish. Fitz wanted to find Jemma just as much, and even more than she did, but yet he was trying to contact the team.

"What an idiot," Daisy sighed, hanging her head. "I could be there contacting the team and Fitz could be looking for his wife." She sighed again. "Insensitive, Daisy. Insensitive." She clasped both of her hands over the phone and pressed it to her forehead, exhaling, when she saw something else.

"What the…hell?" she whispered, leaning forward. She reached out and touched the liquid, which was cold and semi-hard. She looked at her fingers which were coated thinly in brownish-red blood. "Jemma," she whispered. "Oh God." She got up as quickly as she could handle and walk-hopped down the hallway, following the trail of blood. She followed it past the locker room, down into the basement of the base where extra stocks of supplies were stored. She stumbled down the stairs, clinging to the railing for dear life, and when she reached the bottom, she fell into the opposite wall, slamming into a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo hanging from the wall. Sliding off, Daisy wobbled down the dark hallway, checking each door. Two were ammunitions, one was canned goods, and another was more shelf-life foods. The last door she tried turning the handle but it was locked. She wouldn't be able to kick the door in because it was heavy metal, but she could pick the lock. Tucking the phone in her back pocket, Daisy took out two hair pins that had kept one side of her hair out of her face, and set to work. After jiggling the lock and turning each hair pin this way and that, she heard several clicks and the handle turned. As she opened the door, she immediately saw Jemma.

Jemma picked up her head, her eyes widening instantly. "Daisy?"

Jemma was alone, her arms strapped to the chair she was seated in, and a pool of blood gathered around her right foot. Her face was pale, the side of her face black and blue. "Jemma, are you alright?" Daisy exhaled, running forward.

"Yes, I'm alright," she whispered. "But, Daisy, you have too—"

"I know, I'm getting there," Daisy said, reaching for Jemma's wrists.

"No, Daisy—" Jemma almost shouted. "Daisy—Watch out!" she shrieked.

But she was too late. Something hard hit Daisy on the back of her skull and her head snapped sideways, her whole body collapsing to the side. Daisy laid still, her body sprawled out in front of Jemma's feet. She looked up at Aiden who had swung a metal pipe, a sick grin on his face.

"Bloody hell!" Jemma shouted, panic evident in her stunned eyes. "Are you idiotic!? That could kill her!"

"She's fine," he shrugged. "I didn't hit her that hard. Besides, I don't want her dead."

"You don't want her dead?" Jemma asked.

"Of course not," Aiden chuckled. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Jemma's brain wasn't thinking as fast as it usually did so it took her a moment to comprehend what he was saying. "Daisy—she's the one you want?"

"Correct," Aiden smiled. "And now that I have her, you can sit and watch while I get exactly what I came here for."


	6. Escape Was So Close

**I know, I haven't updated in a bit, but I'm finally on break for a week, so I should be able to update a few more times before heading back to school. Let me know what you think! And as always, thank you so much for reading! -Brielle**

Jemma tried to see if Daisy was breathing, and she thought she could see her chest moving, but she wasn't sure. Daisy definitely looked awful. Her hair was a mess, she was covered in dirt streaks, her hands were stained a light pink, she had cuts on her face, and her gray shirt was covered in blood. From what Jemma could see, Daisy had been injured and then helped because there was a white bandage under the dark maroon hole in the torso of her shirt.

"God, Daisy," she whispered, guilt building up in her gut. "What the hell happened to you?" She hoped Daisy would wake up soon because she really wanted to know about the rest of the team. Were they alright? What about Coulson and Mack? Had Aiden harmed anyone else?

Daisy groaned quietly, air barely passing between her lips.

"Daisy?" Jemma leaned forward. "Daisy, are you alright?"

Daisy slowly moved her limbs, first curling in on herself to protect her abdomen before stretching back out, a hand moving to the back of her head. "What happened?" she croaked.

"I tried to warn you," Jemma exhaled. "Aiden's behind all of this."

"Aiden?" Daisy grimaced, propping herself up on an elbow. "God, what he'd do, hit me with a two by four?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"A metal pipe," Jemma shrugged sympathetically.

"That explains the headache—" she looked at the palm of her hand. "—and the blood."

"Daisy, what happened?" Jemma asked, leaning forward. "Why are you covered in blood?"

Daisy chuckled weakly, clearly not amused at whatever she was thinking. "Now that I know Aiden is behind this, I'm going to assume it's Aiden that shot me."

"He shot you!?" Jemma gasped loudly.

"After I woke up from the explosion, I had already been shot. At the time though, I didn't know it was a bullet wound."

"How are you even up right now?" Jemma asked, the pitch of her voice rising slightly.

"I had to find you," Daisy glanced up at Jemma, a smile in her eyes.

"Well, I appreciate the gesture, Daisy, but I really would have rather you stayed with the team so two of us didn't end up in here."

"Last time I help you," Daisy laid back, grinning up at Jemma to show she was only teasing.

"Mind helping me out of these?" Jemma looked down at her wrists which were still strapped to the arms of the chair.

Daisy nodded, getting up, only wincing slightly. She looked over the zip ties, and since she didn't have anything sharp on her, she'd have to try her powers. "I'm going to see if I can hone in on the vibrations of the zip ties, lock on, and then shatter them, okay?" Jemma nodded. Daisy put her hands over Jemma's and spread her fingers, curling them slightly at the tips. She closed her eyes and then small vibration waves came out from her palms, connecting with the zip ties. After a moment of feeling for the same frequency, Daisy got it and snapped her hands closed, breaking the "cuffs." "There you go," Daisy smiled.

"Oh, thank you," Jemma sighed, rubbing her raw and bleeding wrists. She pushed herself up, but instantly fell on one knee because of the pain in her thigh.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Daisy asked, catching Jemma by her biceps.

"Oh, sure, I'm peachy," she tried to lighten how she felt, but Daisy's gaze went right through her.

"You're a terrible liar," Daisy said.

"You'd think that after all that time in Hydra I'd be better at it."

"Don't change the subject, Jemma. What's wrong?"

Jemma sighed but obeyed. "Something cut me. I'm not sure what, but it was sharp because the slice is clean. It had stopped bleeding, but Aiden, he…"

"What did he do?" Daisy growled, her face set.

"He used his powers on me," she whispered. "There was nothing I could do."

"I'm assuming not the helpful one," Daisy sighed.

"Quite the opposite," Jemma sighed in return. "It re-opened my wound and made it worse. It's been drip-bleeding for a while now."

Daisy peered down around Jemma and saw the puddle of blood that had formed. It was of significant size for the amount of time she had been in the room. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"It's a decent amount of blood loss, but I'm not lightheaded, my skin still has a rosy complexion, and I can think clearly, so I'd say I'm not going to die on you," Jemma smiled.

"I missed you," Daisy grinned back. "I was so worried."

"Me too," Jemma said. "When you weren't with me, I was afraid something terrible had happened."

Daisy opened her arms and wrapped them around Jemma, squeezing comfortingly. "I'm so glad you're alright," she whispered.

"Thank you for coming to find me," Jemma whispered back.

"Speaking of," Daisy gently pulled away, but kept her hands on Jemma's shoulders. "Fitz wanted to find you. He didn't talk of anything else, but May knew he was the best one to get the power back on and communications running."

"Oh, it's alright," Jemma waved it off. "May was right. Fitz had a job to do."

"No, it's not alright," Daisy scoffed. "May should have let him search for his wife."

"We're S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Daisy," Jemma sighed. "It's our job to put our team and missions first."

"Yes, but you're _married_ ," Daisy shook her hands, emphasizing her frustration.

"Yes, and I will still be married when we get out of here."

"Right," Daisy nodded, turning on her heel to face the thick metal door. "One escape route coming up." She raised her hand, lowered her head slightly, and widened her stance. After a moment, the waves re-appeared, crushing the door off its hinges and out into the empty hallway. "Let's go."

"So, it's true that Aiden kept me here in the base?" Jemma asked as she followed behind Daisy.

"Yeah. We're in the basement."

"The basement? I don't think I've ever been in the basement."

"There's a first time for everything, I guess," Daisy shrugged.

"Preferably under different circumstances," Jemma said.

"Oh," Daisy's eye lit up. "I brought your—" she stopped, her hand frozen in her back pocket. "—phone. It's gone."

"Aiden," Jemma sighed. "he probably took it. Do you still have yours?"

"Daisy shook her head. "No, and he took my comm too," she now felt the empty space in her ear.

"Well, I guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

"What's that?"

"We find everyone by searching for them."

"Sad, they're not searching for you."

Daisy and Jemma whipped around to see Aiden approach them out of the shadows of a side hallway. He had a gun raised, and every muscle in his body seemed to be tensing, straining against his skin. Daisy immediately motioned for Jemma to get behind her, never taking her eyes off Aiden.

"Let us go, Aiden," Jemma's quiet voice was louder than usual.

"I can't do that. I'm not complete yet," he shook his head.

"Not complete yet?"

"What the hell does that mean?" Daisy scoffed, but her gaze didn't waver.

"It means YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE," Aiden lost his cool and the gun lowered away from Daisy for a fraction of a second.

She brought a hand up and launched a wave of vibrations at him, sending him crashing to the floor. He was tough though, and he was on his feet again, waving the gun around. Daisy still had an arm outstretched, shielding Jemma from him, but with him waving the weapon around like a maniac, there wasn't much Daisy could do. She jumped when she heard a shot, but reacted, pulling her powers to her hands. She felt her power surge like a blast of air had forced her palm into a pocket of space, and she realized she had caught the bullet. She stood there, right arm bent holding the bullet, her legs wide and low, and her other arm still stretched out in front. Aiden walked forward, his actions under control, but the barrel of the gun pointed at Daisy.

"You won't shoot me," Daisy said.

"Why not?"

"Because you need me."

Aiden narrowed his eyes. "I don't need Jemma though," he switched and pointed the gun at the scientist, whose eyes widened.

Daisy's strength was wavering under the pressure of keeping the bullet still, but she had to or else risk a ricocheting bullet that could kill any one of them. She felt bead of sweat on her forehead, and her side was screaming. "Yes, you do need Jemma," Daisy grunted.

"Says who?"

"Says me," Jemma intervened. "You need me because you still don't have full control of your powers and I'm the only one who has studied your DNA sufficiently to know how to help you when you lose control."

"I think I've got it," he said. "In fact, it's better than ever."

They had backed up so their heels were touching the stairs. Escape was so close, but Daisy's hand was shaking, and she wasn't wearing her gauntlets, so her whole arm felt like it was breaking under the strain. She glanced back at Jemma, trying to tell her that she couldn't hold it, and luckily, Jemma understood. Both women ducked as Daisy pushed with the last of her strength, throwing the bullet forward. Then, chaos ensued. A gunshot echoed through the hallway, a small gasp sounded, followed by multiple sick thwacks off the walls before there was a deeper cry of pain. Daisy uncovered her head and glanced up at the man who had sunk to his knees. He was clutching his hand, a bleeding hole through the palm. Daisy scrambled to her feet, reaching out for Jemma, but she didn't feel her grab her hand. She looked down and gasped.

"Jemma! Oh my God! Jemma," she slid to her knees, picking up Jemma's head from the floor. She had a graze on the side of her head, and it wasn't bleeding much. "So why aren't you waking up?" Daisy shook her hands in frustration. Then, she saw the other wound on the opposite side of her temple. Between that gash and the blood dribbling onto the stone stair beneath her head, Daisy could put two and two together.

"I can heal her," Aiden whispered, clutching his hand.

" _Don't touch her_ ," Daisy clenched her fists, still looking down at Jemma.

"You know I can," he insisted.

"The only thing you'll touch is the inside of a cell."

"Whatever," he glared. "Maybe if she dies, you'll regret not having me help."

Daisy's stomach clenched, and in an instant, Aiden was across the hallway, slamming into the wall. With some silence, she went back to Jemma.

"Jemma, can you hear me?" She pressed two fingers to the vein in her neck and inhaled in relief. "Come on, open your eyes," she said, shaking the young woman's head lightly, but her eyes remained closed.

Daisy didn't know what would happen if Jemma was unconscious too long. Would she get brain damage? Would she be alright? Daisy growled softly, gritting her teeth together. "I don't know how to help you, but we're gonna get help, alright?" Then, Daisy grabbed Jemma's hand, pulling her into a sitting position. "Come on, up we go," she grunted, grappling with her limp body, trying not to rattle her head too much, but managed to maneuver Jemma's body across her shoulders into a fireman's carry. Daisy squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying out, both from the pain in her arm and from the bullet hole in her abdomen.

"Let's go, Jemma. You're going to be fine. I promise."


	7. Reality

**I want you all to know that I see your reviews and your comments, and I'm very thankful that you read my stories and LIKE THEM. Thank you so much for the faithful reviewers—I appreciate you guys. I'm hopefully going to be updating several of my stories tomorrow, so you may catch some new interesting content! –Brielle**

"Daisy," May tried for the hundredth time. "Daisy, can you hear me?"

"Something must be wrong with her comm," Fitz sighed, his hands on his hips.

"How? You fixed communications," May slapped a hand against her thigh.

"Or…"

"Or, what?"

"You're the one who thought the base was sabotaged," Fitz shrugged. "Maybe the perpetrator is still here."

"Don't." May shook her head. "I let Daisy go by herself when I knew, I _knew_ that she could barely stand on her own, and if you tell me that I let her go find the person who bombed that base by _herself_ …"

"You couldn't talk her out of it," Fitz said. "It's Jemma. You know those two are practically inseparable."

May sighed and leaned her palms on the consol. "I'm sorry, Fitz."

"For what, May?"

"For keeping you from your wife."

"I had a job to do," Fitz said. "Jemma is strong. Sometimes I think she's stronger than me. I had to make sure our team knew what was going on, and if she was here, she would have made sure our jobs that we had to do were done."

"Still," May sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"You don't have to apologize to me, May," he said. "We all made choices. I stand by mine even though the husband in me wanted to run and find Jemma."

"You shouldn't have to choose—"

"May, Fitz," Daisy said, barely making it through the door of the control room. She got into the room before she collapsed to her knees, sinking under the weight of Jemma's body.

"Oh my God," Fitz gasped, rushing over, his calm exterior already shaking at the sight of his wife. In an instant, he went from 'put-together-and-logical' Fitz to a 'trembling-mess-of-a-man' Fitz. "I've got her, I've got her," he said, stuttering, scooping Jemma into his arms, relieving Daisy of the weight. As soon as she was unburdened, Daisy fell the rest of the way to the floor.

"Daisy, are you alright?" May bent down, grabbing Daisy's arm.

"I'm—I'm fine. Jemma. Help Jemma," she breathed, pointing weakly over at the couple.

"What happened?" Fitz asked, his voice rising in volume. He scanned Jemma frantically, not sure what to do. They were arms length from Daisy and May, Jemma lying motionless on the dusty concrete floor, Fitz kneeling next to her.

"It's Aiden," Daisy said. "He's the one who planted bombs in the base. He shot and grazed Jemma on the head. It's not deep, but the force slammed the other side of her temple onto the edge of the stairs. She hasn't woken up yet," she sighed, pushing herself, wincing, her breathing labored. "I tried to protect her Fitz."

"I know, I know," Fitz replied anxiously. "You did what you could." He turned back to Jemma, remembering how he had lost her once before to an alien planet. He had never given up on her, but a part of him had given up on the fact that she may have been dead. He couldn't lose her again. "Jemma. Jemma, open your eyes. Please, Jemma," he ran a trembling hand over the purple skin on her cheek. "I don't know how to handle this, handle things without you, so you need to wake up. Just…open your eyes. Open your eyes, Jemma."

 _Open your eyes, Jemma…_

Jemma's eyes snapped open and she inhaled sharply. The room was small, cozy.

 _Cozy means small and charming means old…_

Jemma could hear Fitz's voice in her head from when they were apartment hunting two years ago. He was right. This room was definitely small, but it was nice. It had that antique yet modern look to it. But…why did she feel like she remembered this place? She was on a rust-colored couch that was the kind of soft that was only achieved after being used and worn down. There was a window behind her head that let filtered light in through curtains, but the room was still very dim. She winced at the pain in her head, pressing a palm to her temple. Where was she?

"How are you feeling, Jemma?"

She jumped at the sudden sound, whipping her head around to see who was talking. "Will? Wha—what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Will asked, his brow scrunching. He was still wearing the same cargo pants and worn, dirt-smeared t-shirt that Jemma remembered him in. She was looking at a ghost.

"You—you…died."

Will put down the spoon he was stirring something in a small pot with and tilted his head. "Are you sure you're alright, Jemma? Maybe you hit your head harder than I thought."

"I'm fine," Jemma shook her head. "It's you who's not fine. You died, Will. I—I left you on that planet. And when we went back for you, Fitz, he…and you…."

"Left me on that planet?" Will scoffed, walking over. "What are you talking about, Jemma? We're still on that planet."

"What?"

Will motioned to the room and the walls dissolved into cave rock.

"No," Jemma told herself. "I'm _not_ back here. I can't be."

"You never left, Jemma," Will hushed. "It's alright. You're safe. Don't you remember what happened?"

Jemma squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the world out of her mind, but Will was still there. "You're _not_ real," she shook a hand in disbelief.

"Jemma, it's me. I'm here," Will took Jemma's hands into his own. They were rough and calloused, but warm and comforting. "You should get some rest. Your head looks pretty bad." He reached a hand up and touched the side of Jemma's head and she pulled away, grimacing. "I'll finish supper while you rest."

"Will, I can't—"

"Just for a little. Please."

Jemma stared into his pleading eyes and sighed. "Yes, alright. I'll rest for a few minutes."

"Just close your eyes."

 _Open your eyes…Just, open your eyes, Jemma…_

"Open your eyes, Jemma," Fitz repeated. Jemma's eyelids didn't even flutter. Her face was pale, bruised, and the blood from both sides of her head was still oozing down her cheeks.

"I don't understand," he huffed, his breaths shaking. "The wounds aren't deep. She should be waking up."

"Between hitting her head and the blood loss she's endured, maybe it was too much," Daisy crawled over, a hand over her torso.

"Blood loss?"

"On her thigh," Daisy nodded.

"Oh, God," Fitz ran his hands over his head. "It's still bleeding."

"I'll get something for it," May said.

"Here," Yo-yo appeared in the room, a small bundle of items in her hands.

"Thank you," May said, taking the bandages and gauze pads from Yo-yo. "Fitz."

Fitz grabbed the things from May and set to work pulling the wound close and then wrapping it tightly so the edges of the cut couldn't come apart. "Hopefully that will hold for now," he sighed, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Now, come on, Jemma. Wake up." He held her hand, pressed it to his lips, and planted a small kiss on the back of it. "We're gonna find Aiden, alright? We're going to get the team back and get Aiden, but you have to—you have to open your eyes, okay? Come on, Jemma. Open your eyes!"

Open your eyes!

Jemma glanced over at Will who was scooping soup into small bowls. She brushed her hair out of her face and scooched up onto her elbows, the heels of her boots resting on the opposite arm of the couch.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Will asked, setting two bowls on the small square table a few feet away from the stove.

"That voice. I…know that voice," she whispered, closing her eyes. She smiled. "It's Fitz."

"Fitz? Who's Fitz?"

"He's my husband," Jemma said. "My partner and best friend."

"You're not married," Will said. "You told me that you didn't even have a boyfriend."

"That's not true," Jemma insisted. "I married Fitz ten months ago. It was a small wedding with only our closest friends. It was nice; warm, sunny. I remember it so vividly." Jemma looked over at Will, and licked her lips slowly, inhaling. "That's what's real."

"This is real, Jemma. You've been here for months trying to help us get back to earth. You're not making any sense," Will stood, walking over to Jemma.

Jemma stood, but even at her full height she only came to Will's chest. "This isn't real, Will. You're not real. This is all some hallucination or dreamscape," she shrugged, letting her hands hit her thighs lightly.

"Jemma, don't leave me," Will took her hands in his. "You know how lonely it is here."

"You'll be fine, Will, but I have to go back. My friends are waiting for me."

"Please, Jemma, don't."

"I'm sorry, Will," she bit her lip and pulled away. "I have to go back. Goodbye, Will. Maybe I'll see you again one day."

Jemma's eyes fluttered open, her cracked lips pulling apart as she inhaled.

"Oh my God," Fitz exhaled, leaning his head on Jemma's chest, his hands still shaking. He lifted his head, tears in his eyes. "Hi, honey."

"Hi," Jemma whispered, a smile forming.

Daisy, May and Yo-yo all rolled their eyes in relief. Daisy hung her head, May put her hands on her hips, and Yo-yo mumbled something in Spanish.

Jemma lifted a hand to Fitz's face, stroking the hair on his jaw. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For talking to me," Jemma said. "Where I was, I could hear you. I could hear you calling to me."

"I needed you back," Fitz chuckled, his face now wet with tears.

"If not for you, I may have stayed there. It was a place that was hard to leave because it felt so real, but you—I heard your voice calling to me and I knew I had to go home."

"I love you so much," Fitz murmured, planting a wet kiss on Jemma's hand.

"And I love you," Jemma smiled, stretching up to Fitz's face. Both of them were crying, Fitz was shaking, and Jemma was bloody, but none of that mattered to them. Jemma wrapped a hand around his neck and they closed the gap with several kisses, stopping for a moment to chuckle and then kiss once more.


	8. Patched Up

"How are you feeling, Daisy?" Jemma asked, kneeling beside the Inhuman who still laid on the control room floor.

Daisy nodded, swallowing painfully, her eyes closed. "I'm good," she said and then inhaled sharply. "Just—hurts to breathe sometimes." Jemma stared at her. "Don't give me that look," she sighed, even though she hadn't even opened her eyes.

"You're not being honest," Jemma scolded.

"Yeah, and _you're_ not sitting with ice on your head like you're _supposed_ to be doing," Daisy countered. Now it was Jemma's turn to huff. "I'm fine, Jemma. You don't need to worry about me." She opened an eye and smirked at Jemma.

"Jemma," May shouted as she walked into the control room. "You should check Daisy out. We had to burn her bullet wound shut, but I think you should see it for yourself." Daisy shot May a glare, but May only raised her brow, shrugging.

"Daisy!"

"What?" she groaned. "I'm fine."

"No, we most definitely have to look at your bullet wound," Jemma said.

"And you need to ice your head."

"I will take care of my head once I look at you," Jemma said, slapping her hands over her quads. "Now, Daisy. Let's go."

"Go where? The lab is a wreck."

"We still have materials that may be salvageable. Besides, I know that some of the chemicals were in fire-proof cases, so they'll still be intact." Jemma stood, albeit shakily, but she put her hand out for Daisy to grab.

"You can barely stand, Jemma," Daisy sighed.

"I have a concussion, yes, but a concussion cannot get infected. Your wound, however, is a different story," she rolled her eyes.

"Daisy, go get checked out," May called from across the room.

"What about Aiden?"

"We've got him in the containment cell," May said. "He's going to stay there until Coulson and Mack get back, and they should be here in twenty."

"I want to talk to him," Daisy pointed to May, staring her down.

"Then you better get your ass into the lab with Jemma," May replied. "Now. That's an order."

Daisy rolled her eyes and sighed but she grabbed Jemma's hand anyway. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out at the pain in her torso, and Jemma noticed.

"Are you okay?"

Daisy nodded. "Let's…just…hurry up and get there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it just hurts to breathe, and…move."

"Come on, I've got you," Jemma wrapped her arm under Daisy's and lifted. The weight of the other young woman was surprisingly heavy. _She must really be hurting_ , Jemma thought as she adjusted her grip.

They stumbled their way down the hallway and into what was left of the lab. Jemma was right; the chemical cabinets were safe and untouched. She sat Daisy on a standing metal table and hurriedly shuffled through the things on the ground to see if any of it was salvageable. She did see anything of immediate importance. She got up and went over to where the computers used to be running. Some were semi-intact, but mostly it was pieces strewn across the floor, or monitors with gaping wires and sparking holes. She pulled open a drawer and grabbed several bandages, gauze pads, and butterfly stitches before heading over to the cabinets to get hydrogen peroxide and some q-tips. Arms overflowing with supplies, she made her way back to Daisy and set all the things on the table next to her.

"That's a lot of stuff," Daisy whistled lowly.

"It's all needed," Jemma glanced sideways at her. "Take off your shirt and lay back so I can see your wound properly."

Daisy sighed inwardly, not wanting to take off her warm sweatshirt, even though it was crusted in blood, but she did as she was told. Her face scrunched up in the pain from her bullet wound stretched as her arms went over her head. She managed to get the shirt off and placed it next to her, swinging her legs up onto the table and lowered herself down all in one motion. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jemma's eyes widened.

"Okay, I'm going to take the bandage off and see just how bad the damage is." Daisy only nodded, her breathing already shallow in anticipation of the pain.

The bullet hole was no longer open, but it was a burned mess of blood, melted skin, and it was raw and red. Jemma noticed how Daisy's abdomen twitched involuntarily, and her breaths were sharp and cut off.

"Did someone get the bullet out?"

"I—I think so," Daisy swallowed, shutting her eyes.

"I don't want to cause you any more pain," Jemma whispered. "In that case, since the wound isn't bleeding anymore, I think I can just put some burn cream on it, wrap it, and you should be just fine."

"Thank you, Jemma," Daisy succeeded in giving a small smile.

Jemma fetched some burn cream, perfected by the best S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and applied it to her wound. Daisy sighed instantly, her entire body relaxing. After that, Jemma just put a gauze pad over the site and wrapped her abdomen in a tan bandage. "All done."

"Thank you," Daisy pushed up, only wincing slightly this time.

"Before you go, could you apply some butterfly strips to my head?" Jemma asked.

"Um, yeah." Daisy hesitated. "I'm not sure if I'm the best one to do this though."

"Daisy, they're basically stickers," Jemma scoffed lightly. "All you do is pull one end, hold down the skin on my head, and stick it down tightly so I don't have a gash on my head." Jemma smiled, patting Daisy's leg. "I have complete faith in you."

Once both women were patched up, they made their way back to the control room. May was on her way out and she almost ran over Daisy and Jemma.

"Coulson, Mack and the team are landing in five," she spat as she hurried to the launch bay.

"I'm coming," Daisy said, turning around and jogging painfully to keep up with May.

"You should be resting," May huffed and rolled her eyes.

"There's no way I'm going to miss interrogating Aiden," she countered. "I'm walking on my own, so I'm good to go."

May flashed her a glare, but her body visibly softened and she rolled her eyes once again. "Fine. But if Coulson says anything against it, then there's nothing I can do."

"Oh, Coulson will definitely want me there," Daisy scoffed. "I'm the one who's been training Aiden. I'm the one who knows how he ticks. Except for Simmons. But she's got all the weird chemical, science-y things to worry about. I had to worry about _him_." She growled softly, her eyes narrowing. "He's going to pay for what he's done."

 **Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of intense conversation between Daisy and Aiden...and it may even get rough. Stick around to see the next chapter! -Brielle**


	9. Good Ol' Fashioned Panic Attack

"Is everyone alright?" Coulson asked as soon as his feet came off the dropship.

"We're fine," May said, her jaw tense. "We have Aiden in the interrogation room waiting for you."

"Thanks, May," Coulson nodded. "I'd like to talk to this man myself."

"I'm coming too," Daisy interjected, pointing a finger to the air.

"Not yet," Coulson shook his head.

"But—"

"Just give me a little time with him, Daisy," he said. "If he doesn't crack, I'll bring you in for backup, you know, to make him talk." He smirked.

Daisy sighed but nodded, holding her arms over her abdomen. She was too fidgety to stay still. She needed to do something. As she walked out of the hangar bay, she suddenly felt far too claustrophobic. With the most of the team coming off the Zephyr, handling supplies, gear, and munitions, people were scurrying everywhere. Daisy hugged herself tighter, lowered her head, and got out of there as quickly as she could. Once she took a sharp turn around the corner, she inhaled deeply, a shaking hand trembling in front of her chest. She couldn't explain the emotions flurrying through her, but they were strong; emotions she couldn't just shove deep down into her gut and forget about them. She started hyperventilating and slapped a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing, but it did nothing. She sobbed, slowly sinking down to the ground, her shoulder blades grinding into the wall. While people moved around her, she remained in her little secluded corner, behind a brick column, and cried. After a few minutes, the tears ran out. She sniffed, wiping her cheeks with a trembling hand. She noticed a pair of boots stop in front of her, but she refused to lift her head to see who it was.

"Daisy," they said, "are you alright?" Jemma peered down at her, her face wrinkled in confusion. Daisy nodded, still looking at the ground. "What happened?"

"N-nothing," she hiccupped.

"You of all people don't just break down for no reason," Jemma scoffed, slapping her hands lightly against her thighs.

"I—" she faltered. "I don't know," she sighed, rolling her eyes. She fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt, staring at the tear stains on the cuff.

"Daisy," Jemma sighed, kneeling down in front of her. "Talk to me."

"No, I'm fine," Daisy insisted. "Actually, you know, I'm good." She pushed the palms of her hands against the wall, standing up. She bit her lip, nodding her head frantically. "I'm—I'm fine. Yeah."

Jemma huffed, standing up too. "You clearly are not alright. What's going on?" She reached a hand out, trying to comfort Daisy, but she shrunk away.

"You have more important things to do than worry about me."

Jemma recoiled slowly, but she didn't back down. "You've been through a lot in the past day, and your concussion may be worse than I suspected. Please, Daisy, let me help you."

Jemma's eyes pleaded with her, and even though Daisy didn't want to go to the laboratory where people were, she couldn't say no to Jemma. She just had to give in to those puppy eyes. Daisy nodded slowly, her eye red and puffy. "I'll come."

Jemma smiled, and this time when she reached for Daisy's arm, the other woman let her take it. Daisy didn't even pay attention to where they were going; she just let Jemma lead her around the base like a lost puppy. Instead of the laboratory though, Daisy found herself being led into the break room. Jemma didn't even stop until they were both sitting on Daisy's favorite brown leather couch.

"What are we doing here?" Daisy asked. "I thought we were going to the laboratory."

"No," Jemma waved a hand. "I think we needed to somewhere a little more quiet."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, considering I found you hugging your knees to your chest in the most secluded place you could find in a busy hallway, I thought you might want some peace," Jemma said.

"I was that obvious, huh?"

"You weren't terrible subtle, but I'm also trained to see those things," Jemma said. "I'm a scientist. I have to see the little things, the details."

"Oh yeah?" Daisy raised an eyebrow. "And what little details did you see?"

"Nothing to make a fuss over," she said quietly. "It seems to me like you just had a panic attack."

"A panic attack?" Daisy scoffed. "I don't have panic attacks. I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I don't get panic attacks," she repeated again as if that would solidify her argument.

"Yes, but you're _human_ ," Jemma said. "Inhuman abilities, yes, but you're _still_ human. Which means you're susceptible to anything just like any other human." Jemma looked at her watch. "Your heartrate has already gone down since we came in here."

"My what—" Daisy looked down to see Jemma's hand holding her wrist, her thumb right over the artery in her wrist. What a sneaky little—

"When you were standing—or rather sitting—in the hallway, your heartrate was up to the three hundreds as it did before. Now it's down to the normal 160. Well, normal for you."

"When did you even—"

"When I touched your knee," Jemma said as if that made everything crystal clear.

"My knee?" Daisy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. You can feel a person's heartbeat in the back of their knee," Jemma smirked. "I tried to be as subtle as I could, but considering you wouldn't even look at me, I didn't have to worry too much."

"I'm a little impressed, Simmons," Daisy said. "If only you could lie that well."

Jemma sighed, rolling her eyes. "Everyone has to bring that up. I know I'm not the best liar, but I _have_ gotten better at it."

There was a sudden silence between the two except for the crackling of the worn leather couch as Daisy adjusted her position.

"Thank you," Daisy whispered, breaking the tension.

"For what?"

"For helping me."

"Oh, all I did was talk," Jemma shrugged.

"Yes, but it helped. You saw I was struggling and you did what you could to help me. Thank you," Daisy said again.

"I'd do anything to help you Daisy, you know that," Jemma whispered as she placed a hand on Daisy's knee. "You're my friend and I would never want anything to happen to you."

Daisy nodded for a few seconds and then she leaned over and wrapped her arms around Jemma. Jemma slipped her arms under Daisy's and returned the hug, inhaling deeply. Once they pulled apart, Jemma spoke first.

"Are you alright now to go to the interrogation room?"

"Yeah, I'm good now." Jemma tilted her head, staring hard. "Really, Jemma. I'm good to go."

"Alright," Jemma said at last. "Go show him what Quake can do."


	10. Monstrous

**I am finally continuing this! I don't like where this story is going, so I struggled with what to do with it. But it's here at last! Thank you for those of you who said you wanted this continued! You got my butt moving! –Brielle**

Daisy had been standing in the back of the interrogation room for over an hour, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're a geneticist, Aiden. You should want to help people with the power you have. You could save gunshot victims, people wounded by bombs, even cancer! You have the ability to literally put matter back together."

"Not everyone deserves to live," Aiden said dully.

"Is that what you're trying to do? Kill those you deem unworthy?"

He titled his head back and forth. "Unworthy? No."

"Then what?"

Aiden studied his nails. They appeared to be quite interesting since he was silent for a long period of time. "Have you ever realized how monstrous we are?"

"Monstrous?"

"We shouldn't be allowed to live. We hurt everything we touch."

"Not if you learn to control your powers. I've mastered mine," Daisy said, her trepidation steadily increasing.

"Our DNA has changed, mutated. We are quite literally the definition of mutants."

This wasn't the Aiden she had been helping for the past few weeks. The man before her was calculating, calm.

"As a scientist, you should—"

"I should what!?" he screamed. "I should have sympathy for the scientifically disgraced? The monsters who shouldn't even be alive but are because somehow their genes mutated?"

"You're not a monster."

"I am," Aiden said. "But that's alright. I knew I was a monster even before today."

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked, slowly taking a few steps closer.

"I had a girlfriend. A fiancé, actually. When the newest infected batch of vitamins got distributed, I was one of the affected. I didn't know. Nobody ever does. She tried to comfort me after a frustrating day at the lab. I got irritated and snapped. She literally tore apart before my eyes." Aiden's face had grown red, his bottom lip trembling. He clenched his fists, his inhale shaky.

Daisy glanced at Coulson and even he looked surprised. They always had as much information on the newest Inhumans as hacking and files would allow, but neither knew about a fiancé. How could they have missed something so simple?

"That wasn't your fault," Daisy said, wanting to reach out, but knew she couldn't. She kicked herself. Aiden tried to kill her team. He didn't deserve sympathy. He did deserve justice though.

"You're right," he sighed. "It's not my fault. It's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s."

Daisy narrowed her brows, studying Aiden's movements. He seemed completely different. Maybe he'd had a psychotic episode. Or maybe he'd just had a mask on the entire time and this was the true Aiden.

"It doesn't matter though, because in—" he looked at the watch on his wrist "—seventeen seconds, all the Inhumans in the base will be dead within hours."


	11. Deadly Disease

Coulson threw the interrogation room door open. "Shut down the base! This is now a quarantine zone! No one goes in or ou—"

The entire base shook, agents falling to the ground or holding onto the walls for balance. Then, through vents, hallways and stairwells, a thin blue mist enveloped every square inch of the building.

"Daisy…"

Daisy's breath caught when the cloud came near her and she backed away, but the cold wall at the back of the interrogation room stopped her short. She strained her neck away, willing the gas away from her, but soon the entire room swarmed with blue like a deadly ocean.

"We'll both be dead soon," Aiden said, a sad yet sadistic smile crossing his face.

Daisy felt the blue particles creep into her nose and down her throat, and it burned. She coughed, doubling over, but the more she tried to keep the deadly gas out, the more she inhaled.

"Don't fight it." Aiden closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "There will be at least two less monsters in the world."

"You're psychotic," Daisy said. "You could have helped so many people."

"No. I only hurt people," Aiden sighed. "Not anymore."

Daisy's lungs burned, but other than that, she felt perfectly fine. They only had a few hours. "Fitzsimmons," she whispered, stumbling towards the door. Just as she reached it, Mac came crashing towards her.

"Tremors," he gasped. "What the hell just happened?"

"Mac, we have to get Daisy and Aiden to Fitzsimmons," Coulson said. "I'll contact May and make sure she gets the base locked down."

"Let's go," Mac said, trying to pick Daisy up, but she pushed his hand away.

"I'm fine. I'll go. You get Aiden. Make sure his gloves are on." Mac nodded.

"Fitz! Jemma!"

The couple turned around, both looking tired, but instantly snapping into action.

"What is it sir?" Jemma asked, her forehead scrunched.

Fitz pointed to the ceiling. "Does this have something to do with the blue particles floating around?"

"We need you to test this stuff. Right now," Coulson said.

"Wha-what's going on sir?"

Daisy leaned against the doorway, already feeling much weaker than she did a minute ago. "Aiden created some sort of virus that solely affects Inhumans." She paused, sighing. "It's lethal."

Jemma's face paled. "Oh dear." She glanced over at Fitz who stared back.

Mac came into the lab dragging Aiden along with Yo-yo trailing behind.

"Where are Aiden's gloves?" Jemma shrieked, scrambling to find the power inhibitors.

"There's no need, Jemma," Mac said. "His powers have been neutralized." He glanced behind him at Yo-yo who stood with her thumbs in her front pockets. "All Inhuman powers have been neutralized it seems."

Daisy straightened up, slowly shaking her head. She reached out, pulling from her core, trying to feel for the vibrations in the floor, but there was nothing. An emptiness she had forgotten replaced the knot of energy where the heart of her powers used to preside. Until she tried calling for them, she never realized how incomplete she felt. She let her hand fall to her side, disbelief consuming her.

"I'm sorry, Daisy," Mac whispered.

She shook her head. "It's not your fault." Her eyes shot over to Aiden who refused to meet her gaze.

"We're wasting time!" Fitz shouted, snapping into action. Him and Jemma moved around the lab, gathering supplies, putting equipment on, and sanitizing surfaces.

Daisy tried to overhear what Fitz and Jemma were talking so quickly about, but she only caught pieces.

"Test strip, yes, do that."

"Hopefully create a vaccine."

"But we have no idea the effects of this disease, Fitz."

"If we don't hurry, we'll be finding out soon enough."

Aiden was the only one who knew what he created. Only he knew how it worked. They couldn't make him tell them what he knew, but maybe science could.

"Why don't we use the truth serum on Aiden?" Daisy asked. The room when impossibly still. "He won't tell us willingly, so why don't we take the choice away?" She looked around the room, but nobody immediately objected. "Coulson?"

Coulson shifted, rubbing the back of his neck. "If we have to use it to save you three, then we'll do what needs to be done." He nodded to Fitzsimmons. "Hurry. We don't know how much time we have."


End file.
